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Article

6 Ways PMIS Can Help Refine and Improve Project Processes

BY Tiffany L. LaFleur
Project management information systems are useful for addressing a wide range of common project execution challenges.


While all projects face unique challenges, there are some common obstacles that often derail planned progress. Effective project management requires careful planning and effective use of data to navigate these complexities and achieve successful outcomes.

Project management information systems (PMIS) are useful tools for collecting, organizing and analyzing details from multiple sources and making that data transparent and accessible through customized dashboards. A PMIS can help organizations attain valuable efficiencies, making each project more cost-effective.

Here is an overview of some of the typical challenges organizations face in managing projects and how a PMIS implementation helps resolve the issues.

Budget Overruns

Without PMIS: The lack of a system can make budget overruns more likely by impeding accurate and effective tracking and monitoring of project costs. It becomes challenging to identify budget deviations and make informed decisions, ultimately leading to overruns and financial strain.

With PMIS: A PMIS helps organizations track costs and expenses in real time, enabling better financial planning, tracking and control. With real-time cost visibility, project managers can identify budget deviations or potential overruns early and take immediate action to address them.

Lack of Visibility

Without PMIS: Project data does not have centralized and organized accessibility, inhibiting effective monitoring and tracking of project progress. Lack of visibility can make it challenging to have a comprehensive, real-time understanding of project status, potentially leading to an inability to make timely and informed decisions.

With PMIS: Project managers can effectively monitor the various components of a project and offer transparency to stakeholders. This provides PMs and stakeholders with a comprehensive understanding of the project's overall performance by enabling the accessibility of relevant project data.

Communication Issues

Without PMIS: Communication issues can arise as project-related information becomes scattered across different sources and channels. This lack of centralization creates communication gaps between team members and among project personnel and stakeholders, impeding project progress and feeding concerns.

With PMIS: Centralization affords accessibility and sharing of critical project information, facilitating seamless and efficient communication among project stakeholders. It promotes collaboration — maintaining the availability of accurate and up-to-date information — and improves overall transparency, leading to enhanced coordination, faster decision making and successful project outcomes.

Ineffective Risk Management

Without PMIS: Without a centralized way to document and track risks, there is limited visibility, coordination and timely action. This increases the likelihood of risks being overlooked or not addressed adequately, leading to project disruptions, delays and unforeseen cost consequences.

With PMIS: Organizations can comprehensively capture and analyze project risk data in a PMIS, promoting proactive risk management and mitigation measures and reducing the potential impact of risks on project objectives. Proactive risk management enhances decision making, improves project outcomes, minimizes disruptions, and helps see that projects are delivered on time and within budget.

Time Constraints

Without PMIS: Inefficiencies exist in accessing and sharing project-related information. Without a centralized system, valuable time is lost in searching for project data. This can significantly impact productivity, decision-making and timely project delivery.

With PMIS: Streamlined project management with a PMIS helps automate routine tasks and workflows, and the PMIS delivers real-time information to help people make better and faster decisions. This ultimately improves project efficiency and accelerates project timelines.

Lack of Standardization

Without PMIS: When project management processes are not standardized, the result can be duplicated effort, inconsistent quality and delivery, and reduced efficiency. Furthermore, with no centralized platform to define, document and enforce standardized project management processes, teams may follow inconsistent or ad hoc approaches, leading to inefficiencies, confusion, and difficulty in scaling and replicating successful project practices.

With PMIS: A PMIS can support and promulgate standardized project management practices, resulting in improved consistency across projects and reduction of project costs through the power of information management. Teams can access and adhere to consistent project methodologies, templates and best practices, promoting efficiency, consistency and the ability to replicate successful project outcomes across the organization.

By enhancing project management practices, organizations can streamline workflows, increase efficiency and promote better collaboration, ultimately leading to successful project outcomes.

Author

Tiffany L. LaFleur

Director

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